The Public Health Ministry is leading a programme to collect plasma from people who have had Covid-19 for its research into potential ways to treat the infection.
Dr Khanawat Chantralawan, adviser to the deputy public health minister, said the medical community was exploring every channel to curb transmission of the virus and plasma research offered potential.
He said the ministry would ask people who had tested positive for Covid-19, plus those who had come into contact with a confirmed case, to donate about 30cc of blood plasma. The research is aimed at testing the efficacy of plasma in treating the infection.
In late May, Songklanagarind Hospital successfully used plasma from a recovered Covid-19 patient to treat those with critical symptoms of the disease.
Plasma from people who had recovered from Covid-19 may contain antibodies that their immune systems have produced in fighting the virus.
Dr Khanawat said plasma research was divided into three phases, with results expected before the result of vaccine trials on humans, which are likely to begin at the end of the year.